Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Scotiabank lowered their price target on the stock from $115.00 to $112.00. The stock had previously closed at $104.40, but opened at $97.91. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. Akamai Technologies shares last traded at $94.20, with a volume of 529,470 shares changing hands.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on AKAM. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies from $114.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Akamai Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Akamai Technologies in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Akamai Technologies from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.29.

Insider Activity at Akamai Technologies

In related news, EVP Paul C. Joseph sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.30, for a total value of $389,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 30,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,987,401.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Akamai Technologies news, EVP Paul C. Joseph sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.30, for a total transaction of $389,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 30,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,987,401.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Robert Blumofe sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.69, for a total value of $251,725.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 22,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,216,186.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,500 shares of company stock valued at $741,655. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AKAM. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Akamai Technologies during the third quarter worth $1,303,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its stake in Akamai Technologies by 86.9% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 44,390 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $4,481,000 after acquiring an additional 20,633 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Akamai Technologies during the third quarter worth $209,000. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in Akamai Technologies during the third quarter worth $252,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Akamai Technologies by 0.8% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 452,100 shares of the technology infrastructure company’s stock worth $45,639,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. 94.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Akamai Technologies Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $14.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $101.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.31.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $979.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $977.67 million. Akamai Technologies had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 16.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Akamai Technologies, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Akamai Technologies

Akamai Technologies, Inc provides cloud computing, security, and content delivery services in the United States and internationally. The company offers cloud solutions to keep infrastructure, websites, applications, application programming interfaces, and users safe from various cyberattacks and online threats while enhancing performance.